Funeral Held For Hempstead Girl Killed By Stray Bullet
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Family and friends bid a final farewell to a 12-year-old girl killed by a stray bullet inside her own home.
The heartbroken parents of Dejah Joyner held one another for comfort as they walked slowly into the Union Baptist Church in Hempstead on Friday morning.
Many mourners wore black and pink -- Dejah's favorite color. The young girl's body was brought to the cemetery by a white horse-drawn carriage.
"This is too much," a family friend told WCBS 880's Sophia Hall. "She just had a birthday, she just turned 12 years old."
"It's just sad that a young girl lost her life for no reason," mourner Darlene Saunders said. "She's so young, at least she's in God's hands now. She's an angel."
One classmate said she hopes this is all just a nightmare and that she will wake up and be able to walk home from school with Dejah again.
The seventh-grader was sitting in her living room on Dartmouth Street last Friday evening when a stray bullet went through a window and struck her in the head. She died the next day.
Police said Dejah was not the intended target and that the shot likely happened during a gang-related argument or drive-by shooting.
The gunman remains on the loose.
Authorities are offering a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Anyone with information is asked to call 800-244-TIPS (8477).